Contaminated materials are concentrated in sedimentary materials. Contaminated materials have been depositing in lakes and rivers over the past several decades. Various alternative solutions have been developed by those skilled in the art to manage this problem. The issue is driven by the utmost concern for the environment coupled with the need to keep water traffic channels clear. The simplest method involves removal of the contaminated material and depositing it elsewhere in other permissible places. This method of hazardous waste disposal has been challenged as both environmentally detrimental and extremely expensive.
Some currently used process technologies utilize some form of both mechanical and chemical means to treat the contaminated material. Other methods are prohibitively large and expensive in that they require processing of large quantities of treated materials. One such method is thermal desorption. Thermal desorption results in emission of contaminants into the atmosphere. Emission of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) is highly regulated. This technique is expensive and requires the use of scrubbers and distillers to lower the levels of VOCs released to the atmosphere. Another drawback of thermal desorption is the requirement of a substantial amount of energy. Accordingly, there is a need for an economic means for preparation and conditioning of dredged material. There is also a need for a method of conditioning dredged material which can convert it into an environmentally safe beneficial end product and recover process water therefrom.